Artist: Saints Never Surrender
Album: Brutus
Label: Blood and Ink
Review By: Kimberly Johnson
Tracklisting:
1. Swan
2. This Moment
3. Companion
4. Protecotor
5. Lost To Time
6. The End To The Epic
7. Gather The Forces
8. Mapping The Years
9. The Quest
10. The Quest
11. The Last Defender
The first sound I was welcomed with was the strumming of finely tuned acoustic guitars. Shortly after that, I began to realize that what I thought would be a soft, maybe even pop-ish eloquent collection of songs, is a hardcore infused collection of hits. The true opening track of the record, “This Moment” immediately jumped out at me as being a great example of the perfect way to introduce your album. I like the noticability of the guitars in the track as well as the fluidity of the drums. It definitely didn’t hurt that the song has a pretty sweet chant in it as well: “I will walk with pride!” It’s one of those Ebert and Roper moments where you just want to scream of triumph! As you see, I’m a sucker for a good chant! Always comes in handy for the live shows and gives you something to look forward to.
Saints Never Surrender, although pushing through their 5th year of being a band, have an innocence that you find in so many brand spanking new bands who are just happy to be doing what their doing. Along side such mature song concepts, they also seem to understand the mature quality of hardcore music as a whole. They follow it right down to the passion of the art form, to the musical chops to pull it all off.
Brutus, the bands sophmore album, brings forth a new understanding of “Holy Spirit Filled Hardcore.” The moment you read the lyrics to “Protector” I promise you’ll feel like you’ve learned something extremely valuable. It’s really one of those songs that you can only externally explain in hopes of someone understanding it’s worth. The internal effect is far more impressive then just the song alone.
I’d still love to see what this band has to offer in the following years partly because I’d love to see more from their softer side as well as the heavier, and also since I’m a newly hooked fan. I suspect and hope SNS will stride on with multi faceted songs of voyage and triumph and also some more swan inspired delicacies. As for now, I’m happy and satisfied with Brutus holding me over for the time being.
7.5/10
Standouts: This Moment, Protector, Companion
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